Is North Korea competing in the Winter Olympics? Here are the details

North Korea says it will send a delegation of high-ranking officials, athletes and a cheering squad to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea next month, during rare talks with the South. Grace Lee reports.

North Korea says it will send a delegation of high-ranking officials, athletes and a cheering squad to the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics in South Korea next month, during rare talks with the South. Grace Lee reports.

North Korea and South Korea made a rare move toward improving relations on Tuesday when negotiations between the two resulted in the North agreeing to participate in the upcoming Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

The meeting held in South Korea about 100 yards away from the border was the first such encounter in two years and also resulted in a commitment to hold more discussions in the future and even reopen a military hotline.

The news that North Korea would compete in the games which begin in February was welcome news to the International Olympic Committee (IOC).

“These proposals mark a great step forward in the Olympic spirit,” said the committee’s president Thomas Bach.

Here are some of the other details known about North Korea’s participation in the games scheduled to begin in a few weeks in Pyeongchang, South Korea.

When was the last time North Korea participated in the Olympics?

North Korea last competed in a Winter Olympics in 2010 when the event was held in Vancouver, Canada. Only two medals have ever been won by the country in a Winter Olympics: a bronze medal in short-track speed skating in 1992 and a silver medal in a 3,000 meter speed skating race in 1964.

The country boycotted the Summer Olympics held in Seoul, South Korea in 1988 and the Asian Games held there in 1986.

This is the first time South Korea will host the Winter Olympics. Officials said the country was willing to suspend some sanctions on North Korea to make the North’s delegation’s trip to the games possible.

What does this mean for the U.S.?

North Korea’s delegation made clear in the talks that the meeting was about improving ties with its southern neighbor and not efforts by the U.S. to push dictator Kim Jong Un to denuclearize his country, according to the Associated Press.

“All our weapons including atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs and ballistic missiles are only aimed at the United States, not our brethren, nor China and Russia,” Pyongyang’s chief negotiator, Ri Son Gwon, said.

The U.S. responded to the outcomes of the negotiations with some positive words, however, and remained focused on that objective. A spokesperson for the White House’s national Security Council said the addition of North Korea to the Olympics would be “an opportunity for the regime to see the value of ending its international isolation by denuclearizing.”

The U.S. State Department welcomed the talks between the two countries and called on South Korea to ensure North Korea’s participation doesn’t violate any U.N. sanctions.

Who will compete?

North Korean figure skaters Ryom Tae-Ok and Kim Ju-sik qualified for the games in September and are considered the most likely to participate. Here’s who else will attend:

"With regard to Pyeongchang, North Korea expressed its stance that it will send its high-level delegation, athletes representing the People's Olympic Committee, a cheering squad and an art troupe, a visitors' group, a Taekwondo demonstration team and a press corp," South Korean Unification Ministry spokesman Chun Hae-sung told reporters in Seoul.

When are the Olympics?

The Pyeongchang 2018 Olympics begin on Feb. 9 and run until Feb. 25. The first events on the first day of official competition are curling, figure skating and freestyle skiing. For more information, visit pyeongchang2018.com.

What has been the reaction to the news?

Stateside, the response has been a combination of interest, political responses and concern.